This invention relates to methods and apparatus for annuloplasty repair and replacement.
Valve repair and valve replacement are currently done in surgical procedures as described, for example, in “Mitral Valve Repair: Ischemic” by W. Randolph Chitwood, Jr. (Mastery of Cardiothorcic Surgery, Lippincott-Raven Publishers (1998) 309-321) and “Mitral Valve Replacement” by Kwok L. Yun and D. Craig Miller (ibid. (1998) 329-341). Cumbersome suture management, knot tying, pain and long recovery time are inherent to such surgical procedures. It now goes without saying that quickly operable methods and apparatus are desirable for allowing surgeons to perform procedures with less pain and disability than prior art surgical procedures. Tissue-connector apparatus and methods easily usable in such surgical procedures have recently been disclosed in U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 09/089,884 and 09/090,305 both filed Jun. 3, 1998 and Ser. Nos. 09/259,705 and 09/260,623 both filed Mar. 1, 2000.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide simply operable annuloplasty methods and apparatus for valve repair and replacement, not involving cumbersome suture management and suture knotting.
It is another object of this invention to provide such methods and apparatus using the tissue-connector apparatus disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patent applications filed recently.